| There is something about magic that fascinates us. | | | | result was the same. The witch would be the |
| Long bearded wizards waving a staff as beams of | | | | scapegoat of any abnormal occurrences, such as a |
| light shoot forth. A fantastic floor show in which white | | | | crop dying, and ultimately be put to death. |
| tigers appear and disappear captures our attention as | | | | How has the art of magic evolved over the past |
| surely as the magician locked within a straight jacket | | | | hundred years? |
| that somehow escapes at the last moment. | | | | Magic has turned from a more elemental approach |
| The mystery of the magician has surrounded us since | | | | into that of sleight of hand. It has become a |
| the beginning of time from the midwives who cured a | | | | showmanship and illusion. Tricks are performed in front |
| festering wound to the gypsies reading Tarot cards to | | | | of an audience but the performance gives an illusion of |
| divine our fortunes. Does magic truly exist or is it all in | | | | magic when in reality there is none. |
| the mind of the beholder? | | | | Common sense practices, such as washing a wound, |
| What were they called? | | | | may have once been considered magic but now we |
| The first people believed to practice magic were | | | | know them to be just part of good hygiene. As |
| Priests, Priestesses or Shamans. They would perform | | | | humankind continues to advance, mysteries that |
| the rituals associated with the culture from which they | | | | astound us now will eventually be revealed. |
| were from. All humans, at one time or another, | | | | Was Harry Houdini a magician? |
| believed in things that would seem peculiar to modern | | | | Though he was called a magician, he technically was |
| man. | | | | an illusionist and escape artist. His daring feats were |
| Druids embraced the natural order of the world and | | | | accomplished by hard work and skill. His famous acts, |
| would perform seasonal rituals to usher in crops, the | | | | such as escaping from a straight jacket while under |
| New Year or different holy days. Charlatan is one | | | | water, required him to be flexible and to use a bit of |
| term many would use to refer to individuals who | | | | subterfuge. |
| practiced magic because it was thought that it was all | | | | What is the difference between sleight of hand, illusion |
| trickery and hoaxes. | | | | and magic? |
| Was magic really just for witches? | | | | While once there might have been a difference |
| As evident by many of the horrific atrocities that | | | | between the three, we would now consider them to |
| occurred in American history, a person associated with | | | | be the same thing. All involve the use of illusion. The |
| magic would have been labeled a witch. Whether or | | | | mind is told one thing, the eyes see one thing but the |
| not this is actually true is a different story. The end | | | | reality is that it's something completely different. |